For her second America’s Cup appearance, 21 years after the first, Luna Rossa has already done better than the first. The Italian challenger, who was beaten 5-0 by Team New Zealand in 2000, was tied at 1-1 on Wednesday after the first two races in Auckland Bay. The next two will take place on Friday, then two each day until one of the two challenges wins the oldest trophy in the sporting world by reaching seven wins.
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The first regatta, which had been postponed for five days due to strict containment imposed on Auckland, saw Emirates Team New Zealand win by 31 seconds. The second went to Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli for seven seconds, putting an end to the widespread idea of the unchallenged domination of the defending champion, deemed to be much faster, in this 36th edition of the event.
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“We had a lot of maneuvers and tackings in the first regatta, keeping the boat in good condition was already a good thing … Bouncing back as we did in the second is a very good sign”, appreciated Australian Jimmy Spithill, one of Luna Rossa’s two skippers. For his part, Peter Burling, the skipper of Team New Zeland, has found his team “A little rusty” after three months off. This was seen in a 24 second delay halfway through the second regatta.
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